AN: I've been wanting to do something showing at least one of the ducks swimming for a while now. After several attempts, I have finally created this goofy one-shot! I do hope you like.
They walked along the Huntington Beach pier with Buzz between them, constantly chattering about his latest invention and all the cool things he was planning on doing with them. Nosedive and Mallory had agreed to take him out for a few hours while the others set up a surprise party for the kid-genius back at the Pond. Remembering how much he had enjoyed the Seaside Amusement Park before his parents died, they decided to take him to the actual seaside.
Mallory smiled and nodded, more interested in her ice cream than trying to follow his strange ramblings. The strawberry cheesecake flavored treat was a welcome relief for such a hot day.
"Geeze, little dude," Nosedive laughed. "I thought I talked a lot! How about stopping to take a breath?"
"Sorry," Buzz bounced with every step he took. "It's just so awesome of you two to spend my birthday with me. I mean, Mr. Hillebrand means well, but it's not like he's really my family. You ducks are way more like that since we're friends now! I don't have to work for you or give you all my brilliant scientific ideas or—"
"Hey, I'm kind of hungry." Nosedive spotted a fast food stand not too far away. "Who wants french fries?"
Mallory frowned at him. "With ice cream?"
"Yeah! You know, something salty. They taste great if you dip them in the ice cream."
"He's right," Buzz nodded, his hair waving with the motion. "Hot, salty fries covered in ice cream are the best. Maybe I should work out the perfect formula for what flavor of ice cream goes best with the fries and we can start selling them in stores! It'll be a new kind of banana split, the fry stack." He held up his chocolate, double scoop ice cream cone. "This totally needs fries."
"How about, Frozen Fries?" Nosedive suggested a better name.
"That sounds disgusting," Mallory took another bite of her ice cream. She and Nosedive had opted for bowls over cones when the shop was unable to provide an ingredient list for their various types of cones. It was always better safe than sorry when it came to foods available on Earth. "Like those fries at the grocery store that never get cooked all the way through when you put them in the oven."
"Yeah," Buzz agreed, slurping up a dripping trail of chocolate before it could get all over his hand. "How about… Frosty Fries?"
"French Fried Ice Cream." Nosedive led the way over to the junk food stand, eager for the salty goodness.
"No! French Fried Sundae!" Buzz hopped and turned to walk backwards as he came up with the perfect name.
"You two are disgusting." Mallory softened her comment with a laugh and smile. Leave it to boys to have such horrendous taste in food.
"You are going to try this, girly-girl."
"No, I'm not." Mallory smiled and wandered across the street to read the plaque posted at the entrance of the wooden walkway. A metal sign told the history of the pier, from the original version built in 1912 to the several storms that had destroyed it and the grand reopening back in 1992. According to the sign, the pier currently stood at 1,856 feet long, making it the longest in the US. The redesigned bridge could withstand waves over thirty-one feet high.
"Oh, come on, Mallory!" Buzz pulled out his wallet when they reached the window to order. "You haven't lived until you have soggy, chocolate ice cream soaked fries."
She ignored him and returned once she finished her small exploration.
"Nuh-uh, we've got it." Nosedive pushed the plastic wallet emblazoned with their team's logo away. "Two large, seasoned, curly fries, please."
The clerk, a teenager with braces struggling to straighten his gigantic teeth, stood with his mouth hanging open in shock before remembering his job. He blinked and came back to himself. Smiling and muttering a quiet 'holy shit,' he vanished into the back to retrieve their order.
A man standing on the boardwalk with a synthesizer and a keyboard began playing music, lending the day a jaunty, carnival air. Nosedive started bobbing his head and tapping his foot in time to the music without looking over to see where it was coming from.
The clerk returned and gave them a shiny, metallic smile. "I put a fresh batch in the fryer for you. It'll be ready in a few minutes."
"Cool, thanks." Nosedive dropped a five in the tip jar sitting on the counter. He had cash to spare and it was always nice to pass it on.
"You're Nosedive, right?"
"Yup. And the grumpy one back there is Mallory."
"Hey!" She pointed her spoon at him threateningly. "I am not grumpy. Now, if you got away with the tarantula in the box of cupcakes, then I'd be grumpy."
"Ugh. Please don't remind me."
"What?" Buzz looked from one alien to the other. "What, what, what?"
Mallory started laughing when Nosedive rolled his eyes and shifted to lean on the counter with his elbows and looked out towards the ocean.
The clerk looked on as well, eager to hear about the cupcake tarantula.
"He had a box of cupcakes sitting on the kitchen table this morning," Mallory started. "Somehow, he managed to get a hold of a tarantula and put it in there. The idea was to have me open the box and find it. Too bad for him Grin opened it first."
"And that's why we didn't have any cupcakes when you showed up."
"I had no idea he was that terrified of spiders. That's the first time I've ever seen Grin try to actively kill something living other than a Saurian."
"Haha!" The kid behind the counter started laughing as if she'd just said the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "That's great!"
A group of kids came blazing past on their skateboards, bikes, and roller blades, laughing and cheering. They stopped at the pier, leaning their bikes and boards against the white railing. They chained the bikes to the railing and carried the skateboards onto the pier, talking loudly about visiting the cafe at the end.
"Here ya go." The clerk set their fries on the red counter, piping hot and ready for melting ice cream.
"Awesome." Nosedive grabbed one while Buzz snatched the other.
"Can I maybe have an autograph?"
"Sure." He half shrugged and grabbed a napkin from the dispenser. "Got a pen?" As soon as the clerk handed him one, he scribbled his signature and handed it over to Mallory, who did the same.
Fries obtained, they walked down the pier to watch the waves and seagulls.
"Maybe we'll see some seals!" Buzz stared at the ice cream in one hand and fries in the other. It was impossible to eat them combined without setting one down.
"There's a free bench over there," Nosedive suggested, realizing he had the same problem.
Settling on the bench, they leaned back and enjoyed the warm day. Spring in California was cooler than the summer months, but not by much. The water, angry and rough from storms further out to sea, surged against the massive poles supporting the deck.
"Ooh, ow! Hot!" Nosedive dropped the fry, only to have a seagull snatch it before it could hit the wooden ground.
"Hey, cool!" Buzz turned around, knees on the bench, and threw a piping hot fry out towards the water.
The first seagull that caught it dropped it, as did the second. The third bird gulped it down. Soon, both duck and boy were more focused on feeding their supposed ice cream enhancement to the obnoxious birds than consuming them themselves.
Mallory savored each bite of her ice cream and watched the crowd. Other than the fry cook and two other people that morning, they'd been blessedly ignored.
The group of rowdy kids from earlier chased each other around the restaurant at the end of the walkway before stopping to catch their breath and look over the edge. The biggest boy, probably not much younger than Nosedive, climbed onto the railing and sat straddling it.
"Mike, get off there," the blond girl on roller blades demanded.
"I'm king of the world!" He leaned forward, arms outstretched as if he were Leonardo DiCaprio aboard the Titanic.
"Dork," the other boy laughed, slapping his friend's thigh.
Mike teetered and leaned too far forward. He fell over the railing before his friends could catch him.
"Mike!" the girl shrieked. "Somebody help! He can't swim!"
Mallory rocketed to her feet.
"Hold this." She thrust her half-finished ice cream at Nosedive and kicked off her sandals.
Nosedive automatically took the plastic bowl. He bent and grabbed her discarded footwear as well.
People flocked to the railing, getting in her way.
"Move!" she shouted before jumping up on the railing herself. Crouched, she looked down at the water, trying to spot him. She saw a hand break the surface before a wave pushed it under again. "I must be crazy." She stood and jumped feet first, aiming for where the hand vanished.
Gravity and the force of her jump plunged her deep into the water when she hit. She timed her breath perfectly, managing to fill her lungs and hold it just before the water covered her head. The surf was much stronger than expected, pushing her under. Forcing the air trapped between her feathers and skin out, she dove deeper and faster. Bubbles trailed out from behind her, rising to the surface.
Buzz and Nosedive watched in anticipation. Mallory knew what she was doing; but, there was always the possibility of something going wrong. Nosedive was prepared to dive in after her if needed, even if that meant leaving Buzz unguarded. He was old enough to take care of himself, at least for the time it would take for them to reach the shore.
Mallory twisted in a circular pattern as she swam upwards, seeking the idiotic boy that had forced her to take this unwanted swim. There, to her left. Stopping the spiraling motion that would have carried her above water, she straightened and swam for him. Rather than fight her natural buoyancy, she allowed herself to float upwards while swimming towards the drowning kid.
He flailed around like a terrified windmill. His arms and legs kicking in random directions, doing nothing to help. The ocean surged once more, pushing both him and Mallory above water. His violent thrashing soon dragged him under once more.
She was so close. Damn. Rescuing someone who was drowning could be dangerous. Hopefully, he wouldn't take her down with him. She took another deep breath and trusted her great lung capacity; chances were, she could outlast him if they started going under once more.
Pouring more strength and determination into her efforts, she finally reached the drowning boy. Mallory swam behind him to wrap her arm around his chest and start pulling them towards the surface. He panicked, whirling his arms around before gripping her forearm with all his strength. Mallory kept both arms wrapped around his chest and used her legs to push them both upwards.
He choked and sputtered, gasping for air as soon as his head reached air. He continued choking and would have pushed Mallory under in his efforts to lift himself further out of the water if she hadn't maneuvered them into a back float, keeping as much of him out of the water as possible.
"It's a good thing you're scrawny," she scolded. "Stop fighting me and relax!"
He nodded, fingers digging into her arm.
Mallory sighed before taking a deep breath and looking around. They were a good ways out, carried further than the pier by the angry waves. Thankful for the feathers that kept her afloat, she relaxed, perfectly at ease in the turgid waters. She kicked, using the waves heading towards shore to assist in their journey back to safety.
Finally, they got close enough to the beach that she could feel her feet touch the bottom. Allowing her legs to sink, she shifted their weight upright.
He panicked again before realizing they could walk the rest of the way.
Mallory kept her arm around him, ensuring the forceful waves didn't knock him over again.
A crowd had gathered as people watched the rescue. Once they emerged, a lifeguard rushed over with towels.
Mallory stood and ran a hand through her hair, pushing the water away.
"Damn. I really liked this shirt too." Her silk tank top clung to her slender form, highlighting her muscles. The red floral design had run, dying the white in blotchy pink patches. "You okay?"
Mike nodded, wrapping the large beach towel around himself.
Mallory looked towards the pier and saw Nosedive and Buzz running her way.
People were clapping and taking pictures. Mallory took it in stride, ignoring their obnoxious intrusion into her space. She had just saved someone's life after all. Perhaps a few photos were warranted. What she wasn't looking forward to was the tabloid articles over exaggerating the event.
She could see it now: "Hero Duck Dives to save Drowning Boy!" Or maybe, "Mighty Duck Becomes Baywatch Babe!"
Pamela Anderson, eat your heart out. She smiled in amusement at the thought.
"Don't go jumping off piers when you can't swim. M'kay?" She clapped a hand to Mike's shoulder before joining Nosedive and Buzz.
"Wowie-wow-wow!" Buzz jumped in place. "That was awesome Mallory! Just like the time you saved Nosedive and me! You're totally the best. Amazing!"
"Uh, yeah. Listen, do you guys mind hitting up a boutique or something? I'd like to get out of these wet clothes."
"Nah, not a problem."
"Hey," she looked over at Nosedive as he held out her shoes. "Where's my ice cream?"
"Uh…" He scratched the back of his neck and took a step back. "Heh heh. You see, it was melting and— Bye!" He took off down the beach with Mallory chasing him.